Jesus paces in the large open space, trying his best to listen to the ongoing meeting but his mind going back to the fact Daryl was almost four hours overdue for check in. Hearing Rick sigh and clocking him watching, Jesus decides to take his leave and go try and do something useful - Daryl will need more bolts and they were all low on 9mm bullets.
~~
The sun was setting when the radio Jesus carried crackled and Daryl's voice came through as a whisper of broken communications. He was close enough to radio but only just.
"I'm safe for now. I'm hiding."
"We got caught up in a hoard and had to split up."
"I need to get back to the bike..."
"...but I need to wait."
"Don't respond. I'll be in touch."
Jesus watched his radio waiting for more but ultimately nothing came and after half an hour waiting he grabbed it and jogged to Rick.
"...so do we just wait now?" Jesus leaned against a doorframe. "They have to be close enough, right? I mean what's the range of these?" Holding the radio in his hand in case anything else came through.
"Since they've been souped up, at least two miles... Yeah, we have to wait. Look I wanna go out there to find them as much as you do but we don't have the manpower to search an entire two mile radius... especially with a hoard close by."
Jesus stands and stares off, tapping the radio antennae against his lips. He knew damn well Daryl and the rest of the team could look after themselves and the fact he had checked in was a good sign, but it didn't stop him worrying about what could happen before the next check in.
He phased back into Rick standing in front of him with a hand on his shoulder "...they'll be okay. They all will and we'll be ready to help them when they get back." Jesus nods and sighs "okay, well I'm gonna go on watch tonight at the gate." Rick nods and offers a soft smile, no words needed in response.
~~
Luckily for Jesus the night was warm and he only had himself for company; the last thing he wanted was small talk or gossip about what was happening at the time. He had made sure his radio was charged and the search lights ready, just in case. There was a low hum, almost a drone, in the far distance and everyone was worried it was the hoard getting too close to their home. There were plans to move them off but nothing concrete yet until the recon came back with information on where it was heading.
Kal appears on the tower in Jesus' peripheral and nods "I've just heard from Tara... she found Andy, Morgan, Rosita and Abraham...they're heading in now. They haven't had contact with Daryl since you have but they think they know where he is."
"Are they going to find him or are they gonna tell us where so we can go find him?" Jesus keeps his eyes forward, his words steady and to the point but not rude.
"Abraham spotted a broken down windmill on the next border, Morgan and Rosita are heading out that way."
Jesus nods and stands when he sees the lights of a car coming up the entrance road. Eduardo lifts and activates a search light to see Abraham's car while Kal disappears to open the front gate to let them in. Jesus remains in his spot watching the road; noting how scratched up the rest of the team were and worrying about Daryl's possible injuries.
~~
The next three hours ticked by at almost a snail's pace but Jesus stood at the watchtower looking out; tunnel vision had set in long ago and the drone of noise from the distance was almost meditative to him at this stage. He was so far inside his own head that he jumped out of his skin when the radio crackled to life. It wasn't Daryl's voice, it was Rosita.
"We got him."
Three simple words broke Jesus out of his thoughts and made him look across to the other watchtower; Eduardo had heard it too and was standing ready.
"We need a med team."
Jesus felt his heart drop to his stomach at the second transmission. He sighs and swallows thickly before radioing back "they'll be ready..."
~~
First, Daryl had been forced off the road by the hoard when it had changed direction; a loud siren had begun to wail and had directed it toward Daryl. There was nowhere for him to go except into a ditch and on the run; by the time the siren had stopped he was so far off track he couldn't double back without problems.
While trying to find somewhere to hold up, Daryl had then been attacked by a raid group who had been tracking the recon group since they had left the Hilltop; he had managed to down three of the six but not without his own injuries. The remaining three were taken care of by some lone walkers who were joining the hoard. Daryl had barely limped away and gotten to safety; he had managed to somehow scale the windmill and climb up into the top hatch, well out of the way. By the time the hoard had passed through it was dark and Daryl couldn't drag himself out of the mill.
Rosita had brought back word that the hoard that trailed Daryl was small compared to what everyone could hear in the distance and that yes, they needed to direct them off away.
Jesus had stood outside the medical bay waiting to be told he could go in. There had been Daryl's raised voice insisting he stayed away and then hushed exasperated whispers from those treating him. Eventually Jesus had gotten impatient and had simply walked in without an invite.
Daryl was sitting on a hospital bed in nothing but unbuttoned pants and boots; he was trying to leave.
"Daryl let them treat you..."
"Go!" He winced and grabbed his blood soaked shirt, quickly pulling it on.
"No..." Jesus shakes his head "if you're leaving here then I'll come with you but I'm not leaving you to heal alone."
"Just.. please!?" The normally tough man rubs his face and is clearly close to tears.
"I'll take care of him." Jesus nods to the team, ignoring Daryl's protests and walks over to help him stand. "That shirt is gonna need soaking."
Daryl attempts to push his boyfriend away but fails with his half-hearted attempt, deciding to just nod and stand silently.
It was Jesus doing all the talking as they took a slow walk back to their housing. There were moments when he could tell Daryl wanted to say something and Jesus gave him the time to speak but he always backed out and just shook his head.
Daryl was exhausted by the time he was sat on their bed and had no more fight left in him when Jesus began to undress him and ready a wash basin for a bed bath.
"Paul... please don't..." he whispered.
"Don't what baby?" He gently started to wash Daryl from head to toe; he didn't mind the grime but nobody should stay covered in blood - especially when you couldn't tell whose it was.
"You don't... I mean... I can do this."
Jesus chuckles "you can barely walk... let me look after you." His hands cupped Daryl's face gently.
He knew Daryl had bad scars, he had never seen them before now. Daryl had kept them hidden away from him, seemingly ashamed - though Jesus couldn't work out why.
"They don't bother me D..." he says softly. "...I know they bother you..."
"You don't know anything." He grumbles.
"Hey... hey baby this is me." Jesus knees before Daryl. "You don't have to be defensive with me. I'm not going to judge you." He didn't take Daryl's comments personally; he had built up so many walls around himself to protect from hurt that Jesus knew he still had some bricks to break out.
Daryl nods "Sorry...I'm just... I..." he sighs and shakes his head "I don't want you to see me differently."
"I don't... you haven't changed, you're still you. They're a part of you and I love every part of you." Jesus strokes his thumbs over Daryl's cheeks and pecks his nose lightly. "Let's get you clean and comfortable so you can heal, okay?" He picks up the wash cloth and finishes washing Daryl down until his skin is clean; free of dirt and blood for at least a little while.
"I know what would make me feel a little more comfortable.." Daryl smirks and blushes instantly.
"Oh..?" Jesus walks back from emptying the wash basin.
Daryl leans back on his bent forearms, tilts his head and moves his legs further apart, watching his boyfriend catch on and break into laughter "you're working on asking for what you want from me, I see. Good boy."
Daryl relaxes and smiles; those two words had multiple effects on him depending on their context. Regardless, he loved hearing them from Jesus' mouth. He wasn't used to this kind of praise at all and it had taken some work for him not to tense at the words and to realise the praise was genuine.
Anyone looking at the pair would assume Daryl was the more dominant of them. In reality it was Jesus who had slightly more experience in relationships than Daryl. The biker found it hard to ask for what he wanted and often left Jesus guessing; he had promised to work on this and to Jesus it looked like it was working.
Checking the door was locked, Jesus then walks over while sweeping his hair up and tying it in a pale green hair tie from a pack Daryl had found a while ago.
Climbing onto the bed and helping Daryl sit up, Jesus smiles and gently runs his hands down the scars.
"Paul..."
"Sshh.." leaving around to kiss him "trust me."
Daryl tries to relax a little and closes his eyes when he feels Jesus' lips on his skin; light kisses trail over every scar, finger tips follow the same paths Jesus' lips make until every dark, raised line has been attended to.
Jesus lays Daryl back again, kissing him deeply with a hand on his cheek, trailing it down his neck and across collarbone. He kept his touch light and made Daryl break out in goosebumps following his fingers down his chest and ribs, stomach and stopping just shy of Daryl's cock. He leans up and slowly moves off the bed to kneel between Daryl's parted thighs.
They'd not had any prolonged time alone together to do anything since before they'd got word about the hoard a few weeks before and while this didn't necessarily affect Jesus as such - because he was a teasing brat at the best of times - Daryl had since discovered his needs and very much enjoyed having them taken care of.
Jesus dipped his head and kissed his way up Daryl's inner thigh, stopping just short of making contact with his cock and ghosting a light breath over him as he switched sides and kissed his way back down the other thigh. Daryl's breathing hitched as he felt Jesus's hot breath on his cock and then groaned in frustration when his lips moved away.
"God damnit Paul..."
Jesus smirked and nipped lightly, working his way back up the inner thigh. He moved one of his hands slowly to mirror the path his lips had made and wrapped around Daryl's hardening member, stroking slowly, feeling him get harder as his lips kept just missing where Daryl wanted them most.
"Fucking tease!" Daryl hisses.
"Use that language and I'll tease you more... Who's the one in control here?" Squeezing his cock a little as he jerks him."
"Please..." he breathes and closes his eyes. "Baby please.."
"That's more like it." Jesus smiles and flicks his tongue over the head of Daryl's cock. "Love hearing you beg."
"Paul, baby... I want... I need your mouth around my dick."
Jesus nods "good boy.." lowering his head and closing his lips around Daryl, sinking his head lower until he feels Daryl at the back of his throat, pubic hair against his nose.
A low guttural groan fills the room and Daryl lays back fully on the bed, arms above his head.
Jesus hums and slowly pulls back to tease his tongue around the head; flicking and licking, pressing light kisses and then taking Daryl into his mouth again.
Daryl was already breathing hard when Jesus stopped teasing and set a steady pace, making sure every inch of the cock was being praised by his mouth. He swirled his tongue and hollowed his cheeks, a hand massaging Daryl's balls as he bobbed his head along the length.
"P-Paul... I'm.. I'm not gonna be able to..."
Jesus knew, he understood and instead of slowing or pulling away to prolong the pleasure and tease Daryl further he sped up and sucked harder; wanting to feel him release into his mouth. It only took a few moments before Daryl was grunting and moaning with orgasm and Jesus swallowed around him hungrily, lapping to clean him up and smiling at the jolts of pleasure going through Daryl with every touch of his tongue.
Laying on the bed gasping in breaths, Daryl swears under his breath and tries to steady his shaking legs; he always wanted it to last longer when Jesus gave him head but his mouth was pure bliss and it never took long for Daryl to be exploding into his boyfriend's mouth.
Jesus helped shuffle Daryl onto the bed properly and stripped himself down to lay beside him.
"Feel better?" Pulling up the blanket to cover them both.
"Uh huh..." he nods a little, already falling asleep.
Jesus chuckles and kisses Daryl sweetly "sweet dreams."